1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical fastener appliers, and more particularly, to surgical tack appliers having surgical fasteners including engagement members and associated methods of applying.
2. Description of Related Art
In hernias, such as direct or indirect inguinal hernias, a part of the intestine protrudes through a defect in the support abdominal wall to form a hernial sac. The defect may be repaired using an open surgery procedure in which a relatively large incision is made and the hernia is closed off outside the abdominal wall by suturing. The mesh is attached with sutures over the opening to provide reinforcement.
In contrast, minimally invasive, e.g., endoscopic or laparoscopic, surgical procedures are currently available to repair a hernia. In laparoscopic procedures, surgery is performed in the abdomen through a small incision while in endoscopic procedures, surgery is performed through narrow endoscopic tubes or cannulas inserted through small incisions in the body.
Currently, minimally invasive surgical techniques for hernia repair utilize surgical fasteners, e.g., surgical tacks, staples, and clips, to secure the mesh to the tissue to provide reinforcement to the repair and structure for encouraging tissue ingrowth. Surgical fasteners may be deployed with a surgical fastener applier through a mesh and into tissue below.
Challenges may be presented in affixing a mesh over a hernial defect with surgical fasteners, e.g., in instances involving irregular or uneven surface geometries, or in situations when internal body structures are subject to movement and shifting. However, it is desirable to minimize the number and size of surgical fasteners deployed through a mesh to minimize trauma to the tissue below. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a surgical fastener that is configured with optimized mesh retention properties, while minimizing the portion or size of the surgical fastener inserted into tissue.
Further, it would also be desirable to provide a means of counting the surgical fasteners remaining in the surgical fastener applier as surgeons may put down the surgical fastener applier when surgical fasteners remain, pick up the surgical fastener applier for later use during the procedure, and forget the number of surgical fasteners that still remain in the surgical fastener applier.